The basic functionality of a typical mobile phone has gone through dramatic changes from being solely voice oriented to being capable to support complex features and rich data intensive applications. It is expected that this trend of increased complexity and capability of mobile devices will continue and drive significant increases in product and service innovation. In many respects, mobile device management is quite similar to classic enterprise management. It includes provisioning, which is the ability to setup a new device or service for a mobile subscriber, firmware and software lifecycle management, which includes the delivery, configuration and retirement of new or updated programs and data, remote diagnostics of phone features, software and network connectivity, asset management, reporting and other features. To ensure ease of use, a combination of intelligent management, proactive monitoring and diagnostics is a necessity for wireless/mobile operators.
Present system, network and enterprise management solutions are typically based on a protocol which defines two key items, a PDU (protocol data unit), which describes the content that is passed between a managed object and its manager, and a data model that uniquely describes the location and structure of managed objects. For mobile devices, the preeminent standard is OMA DM (the Open Mobile Alliance's Device Management) standard. Typically, a carrier runs one more instances of an MDM (mobile device management) platform to manage associated mobile devices. The OMA DM protocol leverages the popular browser-client web-server interaction model and HTTP transport mechanisms. Interactions between the management platform and device may be initiated by either the server (management platform) or the client (mobile device). A client initiated interaction follows the familiar paradigm of a web browser initiating a session with a web server. When the server wishes to initiate an interaction, it must start by notifying the client so that the client can once again initiate a browser-like session with the server. This server-to-client notification is carried via an SMS (short message service) communications channel text message that is specially recognized by the mobile device and routed to the OMA DM client software so that it may establish a session with the server. Once the SMS-based notification is received, a client-to-server session is established and proceeds in the same manner as for a client initiated interaction.
In an MDM system, remote devices may be controlled in a number of different ways. The two fundamental dimensions of control are usage control and operational control. Usage control pertains to control over application and services available to and executed on, or accessed by the device. Examples of usage control include a service operator restricting usage of certain applications so that only applications that have been paid for may be used on a given device, a subscribing parent (referred to as a master subscriber) attempting to ensure that their child does not use the music player or game application on their cell phone while at school, or an enterprise dictating that their employees' cell phones vibrate, rather than ring, when they are in executive meeting rooms, and other similar application controls. Operational control pertains to the operation of the device itself, and the various hardware elements of the device, such as power, input/output, and transceiver circuits. Examples of operational control include limiting device power consumption if the battery is running low, increasing radio sensitivity if interference is detected, increasing speaker volume in noisy environments, and other similar operational characteristics.
At present, mobile devices are controlled almost exclusively by the user. That is, the user must manually set or modify operational settings, such as ring mode, speaker volume, keypad configuration, and so on. With regard to usage control, service providers are generally able to enable or disable certain functions on a remote device, but control is generally limited to simple on/off settings. Present devices do not support usage control based on dynamic or operational characteristics of the device. Consequently, such control requires user configuration. Thus, in order to enforce usage policies or rules, or set certain operational characteristics, a relatively high level of user input is required. As such, present mobile devices are passive devices that are not capable of significant autonomic operation, but instead require active monitoring and configuration by service providers and users.
In certain cases, standard management protocols may be used by a server to retrieve, analyze and set management properties values for a mobile client. The management property values can be stored within known structure, such as a device management tree. Though such server-driven management presents a mandatory channel, it implies that the server is the component primary responsible for taking management decisions for the mobile client. Such existing management paradigms can thus be viewed as reactive rather than proactive because management and monitoring is conducted after a problem is reported by a consumer.
What is needed, therefore, is a mobile device policy distribution and enforcement system that allows for autonomous control and operation of mobile devices.
What is further needed is a mobile device resident management framework that facilitates management of mobile devices based on operational and use conditions sensed on the mobile device.